I can still feel it
by Psychokic
Summary: We all know Pitch is the guardian of fear. Needless to say, that doesn't mean he's not intelligent either. When the dark sprit creates a newly 'updated' version of his nightmare sand, he will attempt to knock off the guardians once more, starting with Jack. Follow Jack as he tries to uncover the coat of depression to find his past. Rated T for depression and 'cause i'm paranoid.
1. Chapter 1

_**So, Yeah. This is my first ROTG fanfiction, and I'm paranoid. I know this is a kid's movie, designed NOT for depression and emotion and flaggle. But what to do when you're just starting out on writing and you're not the best character creator YET? Besides, using Jack and all the others sounded like a good idea to me, plus, I had some 'extra' ideas for Jack's past.**_

 _ **So, yeah or nah, Jack will be slightly depressed.**_

 _ **What could go wrong?**_

 **Chapter one**

 _ **Pitch**_

 _-Scrape-_

Dark. It is all that it could be described as.

 _-scrape-_

It is cold, too. But it is natural. I don't think Jack would be here too, would he?

 _-scrape-_

But what exactly could be happening in a place like this?

 _-scrape-_

Oh, I see. You're plotting against the guardians again, are you not?

Pitch turns from the black globe, shadowed and encased in blackness, facing the long, thin skeletal figure before him, boneless and chilling.

"Ah, it is only you my pet." He strokes the nightmare.

"It seems like only last week you decided to return to me. Oh, wait, it _was._ Do not fear, I wasn't mad."

 _-I was not fearing, master. Yet, I came quick because I smelt_ _ **your**_ _fear. Another flaw in defeating the guardians, I can sense.-_

"Please. I was only fearing the unbelieving _._ But I shouldn't worry. The children can't flaw my plan this time."

 _-How, master?-_

"It is simple. I always target the children first, after all, they _are_ the core to my existence. But they always seem to stop me, especially at the times when I can almost touch the guardian's myself. They are the pure barrier to the guardian's beliefs. So, I decided to do the smart thing, and simply avoid them." He turns from the dark stallion.

 _-Undoubtedly, that leaves you only one choice...-_

"Yes, and that is to target the guardians on the full, the first and only stage in my plan. It's foolproof."

 _-It is so, master.-_

"Of course. and with my newly crafted… _expansion_ to my usual nightmare sand, it will be strong enough to pummel one guardian down in a heartbeat, unlikely that I will use it on the children, you know, for safety reasons."

 _-It is always good to avoid the risks, my greatness.-_

"Yes. The only thing I need to do now is find my first victim to open up the event."

He strides towards the glittering black crystal on the pedestal he was examining before the nightmare came. With a stroke, an image of a hooded, slender figure appears, positioned in the perfect aim of a snowball fight.

"Let's start with you, Jackie."

 _ **I'm slack at keeping up to date, so, if you want the update quicker, instant follows would be great. Thank you!**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two**

"Not many in New York tonight, huh?" Toothiana grinned as she gathered her baby fairies up to leave. "Covered Broadway? Okay, good. We can leave." She turned around only to come face-to-face with Jack.

"Tooth?" He asked. "What're you doing out?"

"Oh, hey, Jack." Tooth flushed, her fairies swooning around her. Undoubtedly, she still had a small crush on him. "Just thought I'd go out on the field for once. Beats the sorting job back at the palace. What are you doing here?"

"This place is due for a small storm." Jack smiled. "You might want to get outta here. The drifts go crazy when they hit the buildings here."

"Okay. Well… I'll see you around… Whoa!" Tooth yelled at the greenish-blue glowing in the distance.

"The northern lights? But… I thought this place had light pollution."

"So did I… Wait, what time of the month is it?" Asked Jack.

Tooth quivered as she thought. "Shoot. The meeting's today!"

"Then we gotta go!"

"What about your storm?"

"Forecasts aren't always correct, you know!" Jack flew off.

"Just go on to Ethiopia without me, fairies." Tooth told her babies. They whimpered. "Oh, I know, I promised I would go this time but I can't be late! These meetings are extra important now that Jack's on the team!" With a quick goodbye, she left, following Jack as the wind sped her pace.

"So you're telling me, you saw Pitch again? If this is another pre-Christmas joke mate, I swear I'll knock your-"

Bunny was cut short by Jack and Tooth soaring through the window.

"What took you so long?"

"Late notice." Answered Jack for both of them. "Did I just hear you saw Pitch again?"

North nodded.

Jack gazed about. "Where's Sandy?"

"On his way. Sending dreams to kids in Seoul then Tokyo is a big job, ya know?"

"It's why I have my backups." Commented Tooth.

Jack took the moment of conversation to look at the globe. "Strange. If you saw Pitch, why are all the lights the same? And did he know the monthly meeting was going to be today? So he could gather us without causing a panic?"

"Beats me."

With that, Sandy appeared in a swirl of sand, a troubled look upon his face.

"Sandy! What's up?"

Sandy made a head symbol representing Pitch then made the silhouette of a mountain, pointing to a window that went out west.

"The alps?" North asked.

He nodded.

"Let's go!" Tooth motioned Jack to follow her.

"Right behind ya, mate."

They were off.

Pitch stood atop the mountain, like an impatient child.

"Good thing I chose the meeting day to avoid the suspicions, didn't I? Well, I wouldn't have found out the date If it wasn't for this little treasure."

He pried open his own hand to reveal a baby tooth fairy, huddled and scared.

"I should thank you. A least you're one of the brave ones, not one that would commit suicide after betraying your guardians. Otherwise," He looked over the alpines and saw four separate figures coming in his direction. "This plan would be a turmoil."

He released the pixie, sending it zipping towards its mother-figure.

"Sandy, distract him. Me and North will come out unexpected. Jack will cover us if something happens. Got it?" Bunny shouted from the sleigh, weapons prepared.

Sandy nodded in agreement, Tooth following behind. "Let's do this!" She screamed, when something hit her square in the face. Rubbing her eye, she saw a blurry fairy squeaking at her in panic.

"Baby Tooth? What are you doing here? Is something wrong?"

The minuscule pixie squealed, rapidly forcing air out of her tiny lungs.

"What?! Pitch had you captive?"

Baby Tooth nodded.

"And he tortured you?"

The adolescent continually squeaked as she gestured all over the place.

"And he's targeting on one particular guardian? Who? Why them?"

The fairy stopped in mid-air and quivered anxiously. Suddenly, Tooth knew exactly what that meant.

"JACK!" She soared dizzily towards the alpine.

Sandy aimed a whiplash at the dark guardian, distracting him in any way possible, but nothing was seeming to work. North and Bunny had already attempted several times to distract him, but it was almost as if he was prepared for anything, keeping his eyes peeled for something else.

"Tooth! Are you okay? You fell behind back there!"

"Bunny! Something terrible's gonna happen! Where's Jack?"

"I haven't-"

North was broken off by a blast of ice zipping towards a nightmare. It sparked into tiny particles of sand easily enough, but a sudden explosion of smoke-like gas emitted from the mass of dark powder, blinding anyone near it. Tooth glanced over to where the ice had come from to see Jack shielding his eyes, protecting himself from the sudden blow of vapour. The guardians all watched in anticipation as it swallowed his whole body, Tooth screaming his name.

A minute passed.

Two more went by.

Then another.

Tears threatened to escape Tooth's eyes as she waited nervously for the smoke to clear. It seemed like Jack was never getting out. Finally, after what seemed like forever, a huge voltage of cyan erupted from inside, incinerating any smoke surrounding the alps. From there, Jack appeared, flying at the fastest speed possible with six hungry nightmares following.

"Where the devil did they come from?" Yelled bunny.

"I don't know but they're not getting away with it!" North's eyes transformed from fear to a burning rage as he brought down the reins, speeding off with sandy and a still-anxious tooth following.

Jack blinked away the excess smog, flying aimlessly away from the nightmares. He didn't care where he was heading, he just needed to get away.

He was stopped abruptly when Tooth literally crashed into him.

"Jack!" She screamed before he could say anything.

"What? Has one of the others fallen?"

"No! It's-"

She shrieked as a nightmare began attacking her. Jack turned and took out the whole swarm with ice.

"T-thanks." She panted, her throat raw from screaming and hyperventilating.

"No prob, but why'd you fly all the way here?"

"It's pitch. He- had one of my fairies before the meeting."

"What?"

"She was forced to tell him some secrets about the guardians. I don't know why, Jack but you have to stay away from-"

Tooth was hit on the side by a small blast of nightmare sand, knocking her away.

"Tooth!" Jack turned, seeing pitch using the same method on other guardians.

"PITCH YOU ARE SO DEAD!" He zoomed off before he could see Tooth catch herself from her fall, mid-air.

"JACK, NO!" She yelled upon seeing him flying in pitch's direction.

The nightmare king glanced in the direction of the screaming, watching Jack gain on him. His icy blue eyes were burning with fury, if that's even possible.

" _Finally. The fun can begin now."_

Tooth stopped in the middle of chasing Jack, raising a hand to her mouth as she observed pitch create a grenade of black sand, eyes on Frost.

"No. No no no no no. JACK STOP!"

Jack stopped and turned slightly when he heard Tooth, distracting him from anything else. Pitch didn't hesitate as he swerved around and catapulted the grenade right in Jack's direction, who heard the sound of wind breaking, causing him to twirl back. The look of sudden realization on Jack's face almost killed Tooth right there.

"PITCH NO!"

The explosion hit Jack on the full, sending him falling unconscious with staff out of reach.

"JACK!"

Pitch grinned maniacally as he watched the four guardians take their focus off him and more on following Jack as he fell to the ground.

"Now… now the fun begins."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three**

Everything that occurred Tooth's vision was a blur of grey, uneven stone and clumps of snow as she hungered for the familiar blue hoodie and white hair.

"Tooth, calm down already! Jeezus, you're goin' faster than a hummingbird on high!"

"Fine, but do _you_ see him anywhere? He could've been seriously hurt by now! Or worse, what if Pitch had already gotten to him?"

"I highly doubt that, we haven't seen many nightmares retreat since we came down." North explained.

Sandy jerked his hand forward, everyone looked at him. Then all eyes were where he was pointing.

"Jack! Oh my gosh!" In a flash, Tooth had half-run, half-flown over to where they had spotted Jack. He was unconscious, sprawled across a sharp, uneven mountain ridge, staff lying a few feet away.

"Tooth, stop!" Bunny yelled. Tooth paused in the position she was in, almost touching Jack.

"What if there's spine damage? We can't just move him! We need to check if he's hurt."

"If he's awake, then we'll know." Tooth said, moving to Jack's spot and gently trying shaking him awake.

"Jack, Jack wake up. Please. Can you hear me?"

Over three minutes passed, and Toothiana was on the verge of tears when a small groan was heard.

"Jack! Jack, can you speak?"

"No… It hurts-" His eyelids twitched in attempt to open, but soon went still again, indicating that he was out again.

The others groaned in disbelief.

"Dammit. We're going to have to get him back to the pole and hope for the best." Tooth began shifting Jack out of his position.

"Woah, be careful!"

"Don't panic, he's fine. He's probably gonna be unconscious for a while, this is the best we can do." She proceeded to pick him up.

"Sandy, the staff."

He nodded and did the task as asked.

"As long as he's still breathing, there's no need to panic. North, where'd you say you had the sleigh?"

As they left, a shadow whispered silently.

" _Shame, guardians. You think I hadn't gotten to Jack already? You've forgotten just why he's unconscious. You_ _ **do**_ _have a reason to panic."_

 **Jack's POV**

"What the… Where am I?" Jack asked himself, rubbing his forehead. It hurt a little, he figured it was from what seemed like a minute ago; he had heard Tooth screaming after she had presumably fallen only to have been hit by black sand.

That was all he had remembered.

It was dark, and cold. And yes, he was scared again. But it wasn't the same. There was a single beam of light offering him sight, but was otherwise useless. It was almost like a streetlamp during a rainstorm, except there was no rain, and the pavement was flawless, no cracks or stains.

"Tooth?" He asked. No one answered. "Sandy?"

"You should have stopped after the first name, Jack."

"PITCH?!" He screamed, reaching for his staff, but there was nothing. "Where are you? WHY AM I HERE?"

"It was your own fault."

"What? Why?"

"You think I was still that strong? When you defeated me, that time in burgess, I was weakened. Nightmare sand was no longer the weapon to knock someone back. When you thought me hitting toothiana was going to injure her, you were wrong. She was barely paralysed. You were so distracted, you were stupid enough to go after me anyways, without bothering to check on her. When she called your name, that made you weak enough to be simply hit."

"What? I didn't… I mean… I' not weak! I'm just not used to this thing yet!"

"What? Being a guardian?"

Jack felt fear building up inside of him.

"You were careless, Jack. Now you have to pay."

A crack was heard, and Jack saw that he was no longer standing on stone. He was standing on ice, thin ice, Pitch standing before him

"No… you wouldn't dare…"

"Sweet nightmares."

"Wait! What did you do to the sand that made me fall like that?"

Pitch turned back to him. "I don't think it matters anymore. I think this would be a good time to start praying that the guardians will find you, because after what you did today, I'm not sure if they'll bother."

"They would! I… I think… uh.."

"Still careless?" Pitch chuckled, turning away. "Have fun drowning."

"NO! Wait!" He watched Pitch vanish as the remaining ice cracked away. " _Please…"_ He screamed before he plunged into darkness.

It was like knives tearing at his skin, the numbness that followed, plus he couldn't breathe. He struggled against the solid ice for what seemed like hours. If it was a nightmare he wasn't waking up. If it was real, he wouldn't die. He _wanted_ to die. It was torture. He finally gave in, resisting struggling , letting the torture follow his tears as they escaped his eyes…

"Jack!"

He heard a voice. It was like music to his ears. Tooth! Her voice was the most beautiful thing he'd heard in a long time.

"Oh my gosh!"

He tried yelling out to her, but it was muffled out by the water. He suddenly felt himself relax a little, draining out by the second.

No! He was not going to die now! Not after all that struggling. He longed and waited for that voice again, to tell him that he was alright. His hopes faded as his eyes closed.

"Jack! Jack, wake up. Please, can you hear me?"

' _Yes, I can hear you! Help me, please!'_ Jack mentally screamed in his mind, even though he knew she couldn't hear him.

He could feel himself getting weaker by the second, feeling a warmth pushing him slowly, urging him more energy, but he knew it was hopeless. He closed his eyes; If he had to die again, he wanted to die now.

"Jack…" The voice was teary.

He snapped awake, without opening his eyes. ' _No...'_ He thought. ' _I have to try again… for her.'_

He let out a weakened groan, which, to his surprise, was projected clearly.

"Jack! Jack, can you speak?"

Jack could feel himself being pulled into warmth, getting his breath back, and finally, back in consciousness.

Everything hurt. His skin was on fire. His head was aching. His muscles refused to move. And worse, he couldn't see a thing.

Suddenly, a tear threatened to escape.

"No…" He refused out loud. He could hear Tooth gasp in relief. He sucked in a deep breath, only tensing from the pain that followed.

He was slipping away again. He could feel it. No! He couldn't leave. Not now. He had to say something else, let him know he was okay, for now…

"It hurts…" He let the pain disappear as he drifted out of consciousness once more.

 **I know it sucks. Please R/R**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four**

Tooth, Sandy, Bunny and North were barely ten feet away from the sleigh when Jack began groaning again.

"Oh, gosh! He's coming to again!" Tooth hovered faster, trying not to move too much in case it still hurt. Finally, he was laid gently back in the sleigh.

"Jack?"

His glassy blue eyes were like diamonds to everyone; it seemed like years since they'd seen him.

"Tooth? How'd I-"

"Shh. Don't move. Is it painful anywhere? Like your back or limbs?"

"No. Not anymore. I'm fine. I just feel a bit weird." Jack replied, sitting up.

"What happened? It's like, that grenade hit you really hard, but we didn't think it'd stop you breathing or anything. Why were you acting so… demented in your sleep?"

There was a pause. "Nightmare."

Tooth gasped. "Oh my goodness. I should have known. Pitch! Ugh! He has to make _our_ nightmares the worst, doesn't he? Jack, I'm sorry. Can you tell us what it was about?"

Jack silently winced at the memory of drowning over again. "Nah. I- I don't wanna talk about it."

"Jack, come on, you can tru-" Tooth was stopped when she spotted something about Jack's eyes. They were the familiar ice-blue that she had always known, but there was something about them that didn't feel right.

"Oh… ok, just leave it, you can tell us later, if you feel up to it."

Jack nodded as the others turned and the sleigh took off.

Tooth watched with concern as Jack looked away into the distance, making her wonder;

 _What was in that nightmare that made him act that way?_

 **I know, so long and way too short. But I'm really tired and busy, I'll be on break soon enough, but I'm running out of ideas! If you have any, tell me and I'll find a way to combine them maybe?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Don't kill me. Because I will rise from the dead and avenge myself on you. Thanks.**

 **Chapter five**

As Jack stared out into the mountains, he swore that he saw a flash of metallic black. Nah. It was probably the nightmare messing with his head. No, he saw it again. But it was more clear; a bony figure with a jagged mane and ominous yellow eyes.

A fearling.

"Uh, Guys?!" Jack asked. No-one replied. He quickly turned around and realised that none of the guardians were in the sleigh. In fact, there was no sleigh. In an instant Jack felt himself falling.

He yelled out reaching for his staff. He had barely touched it by the time he had fallen hard on the snow-covered ground, shadowy ridges darkening the area. Dazy, he sat up, holding his head to keep from fading away. When he heard a familiar voice, however, he scrambled, reaching for his staff and aiming it towards the shadows.

"Have you just been abandoned, Jack?"

"Shut up. I know they wouldn't just leave me behind like that. This is obviously just another nightmare sent by you."

"Then why aren't they waking you up just now?"

Jack's grip loosened a bit, his eyes widening. It couldn't be true.

"You're lying. Maybe you're just getting a little stronger. I'm not getting any weaker."

"Surely you grown to be less careless, Jack. You should have realised by now that the guardians don't care about you. Not enough."

"You think so?" Jack said sarcastically.

"Of course I know. What about before? You didn't want to tell the other's about your nightmare," Jack grimaced at the thought, "So they left you to it. They didn't bother pushing you to tell them about your feelings, and here you are, stuck in a depressing nightmare!"

Jack shot several blasts of ice towards the shadows, Pitch dodging out into visible view. This was obviously a nightmare that he could control.

" _SHUT UP! JUST STOP!"_ He kept shooting blasts of electric blue which Pitch barely missed.

" _Why are you doing this? You know what it's like to be cast out with no-one giving a damn about who you are or why you exist! I was finally happy, I had a family, I had believers, and now you ruining it for me! WHY CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND A THING?!"_

"Maybe I can now!" Pitch shouted when he got the chance. Jack calmed and loosened his grip on the staff.

"What?"

Pich walked over to Jack and began circling him. "Listen, I know now that you _can_ speak your feelings. You just did it before. Say that same thing in front of the guardians, and they won't give a second thought. _I_ understand you Jack. You can trust me. Join me, and we'll let the world know what we can do, who we are!"

Jack's eyes narrowed, much to Pitch's disappointment.

" _Never."_ He whispered.

"Fine!" Pitch spat. "Have it your way."

Jack paled at the sound of scraping metal behind him. He turned quickly to see a huge night of shining black sand armour, raising a blade twice his height.

"NO!" He screamed as it was bought down…

 **Okay, I know it's been FAR too long since, but the next chapter is almost ready. I just wanted to leave a cliffhanger because HAHAHAHA I'm evil.**

 **-Sparklehannah thanks for the advice. Feel free to leave me any ideas!**


	6. Chapter 6

**It may be a bit overwhelming, seeing another chapter uploaded so quick.**

 **Yeah.**

 **Chapter six**

The first thing Jack heard was his own audible gasp before hearing his name being called several times, all by different voices. His senses still blurry, he felt the area around him and was slightly relieved to find painted wood. He was still in the sleigh.

"Jack," He looked over to see Tooth right next to him, rapidly looking him over.

"Woah, hey Tooth, calm down." He said, even though he was still confused about what was going on.

"CALM DOWN! MATE, YOU WERE HAVING A NIGHTMARE AND YOU'RE BLOODY TELLING US-"

"Bunny." Tooth glared menacingly at him. The overgrown mammal shut his mouth.

"Nightmare? I don't…" Then Jack remembered the sharp blade, and he visibly winced.

"Jack?"

"Yeah, i'm with ya."

"You passed out," Tooth began, seeing that he was obviously confused. "Sandy didn't have a dream on you, so I thought maybe the sleep was neutral." She hesitated, trying to collect herself. "Then you started fidgeting, and...there was no nightmare sand, no sign of Pitch…"

Jack gasped slightly at the name, not knowing why.

"Jack?"

He looked away, biting his lip and grasping his staff tightly, thinking through.

"Mate, do you know what's goin' on?" This time it was Bunny's voice that spoke to him.

Jack's eyes widened at the conclusion he had jumped to. "No, it's- it's nothing…"

"Jack." Tooth said sternly, demandingly.

He sighed. It was time to tell the truth. Some of it, anyway. He was still uncomfortable with the nightmares.

"The sand," Jack began. "I think, I think it's inside of me."

Jack flinched at the other guardian's reactions. North tensed as he drove the sleigh.

"He can talk to me," He continued. "Told me bad things about you. I don't want it to be true, but…" Tooth leaned in, and Jack tried not to cry. He wished he could just tell them to forget it.

"I'm beginning to think they might be true."

Tooth gasped loudly, and shortly afterwards his ears were filled with murmurs of the other guardians. Assuming they might be protests. Jack cringed with regret and burden as it weighted down on his shoulders. He knew it. He knew he shouldn't have said it, but they wanted him to tell the how he felt. Why did it suddenly feel so bad?

It came over him that they bought his feelings out by force, but no. It was his fault. He made them feel bad about themselves, and now they may have lost their trust in him forever. They deserved to hate him.

 _Should they even bother?_ Jack thought. _Do I really have a purpose here anymore?_

His eyes widened at his own thought. No way. They needed him. The children did, anyway. But what did it matter? It had already dawned on him that he might never live the same again after that day.

With those thoughts, he made his decision, and without hesitation, he flung himself off the sleigh.

 **Cliffy. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter done soon. Please review.**


	7. AUTHORS NOTE

**I am so freaking sorry. I haven't updated in... what, two or three weeks. Oh my gawd. I apologize. You see, I got stuck on the story, I had a lot on my plate and I had a hand injury. Forgive me? You don't have to bother. This story isn't as popular as I thought it would be. I'm just not good at writing emotions. -plays sorry by JB-**

 **But I am planning some better things. I've realized that placing one chapter after another in the exact same time-frame might be boring, so i'm adding a time-skip in maybe the next couple of chapters. I'll also be adding more action and less emotion. And -whispers quietly- Pitch will be back, in person! -grins evilly but not so evilly-**

 **Sorry. I'll try to update in the next two or three weeks. Maybe less if I can get more attention to this story in that time.**

 **And I can't draw, so if someone can make me some fanart, perhaps jack in a blizzard of snow mixed with nightmare sand? That would be super awesome!**

 **Au revoir, Fizzy.**


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter seven**

Falling. That's all he felt. Relaxation. An escape. Plummeting towards…

Death?

What was he thinking?

Screams ripped themselves from Jack's throat. Dawning on him that he had driven himself to suicide without thinking about the consequences.

 _Idiot. What am I doing? I didn't even give myself a chance to turn things around!_ He screamed to himself in his mind, remembering what had happened back on the sleigh.

Fortunately, the fall wasn't long. Jack fell on a soft snowdrift as he mentally punished himself for his choice.

 _I should have apologized. Why can I be so stupid? Now they'll never forgive me. First I offended them. Now I try to leave them without a second thought?! They probably already hate me! Oh gosh, what would the children think? How would kids like Jamie cope without me? What if Pitch gets control? WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?_

"Jack!"

The winter spirit looked over his shoulder to see a human-hummingbird hybrid flying towards him, followed by three other silhouettes darkened by the blizzard.

 _No. They'll hate me for this! I can't see them now! I have to get out of here!_

After digging in the snow for a moment, he found his staff. Tooth had gotten to him by then and quickly grasped his shoulders from behind, startling Jack. He turned halfway round and shot out aimlessly, wondering what he'd hit. He saw tooth lying feet away seconds later, and his eyes widened in realization.

"JACK! WHAT THE HELL-"

A quick glance in the direction of the Australian voice and Jack ran. It didn't matter where, as long as the sleigh was out of sight he was safe. He sprinted for god knows how long, even trying to fly at some point, but his head was spinning so hard that he knew there was no point. Finally stopping to catch his breath, he became aware of someone behind him. He clutched his staff tightly, but only seconds later did the strange feeling go away. Shaking his head, he charged to run and doubled over when he cut his foot on a shard of ice. Bending to examine it, the worst sight met his blue eyes,

Swirls of dark sand mixed in streams of crimson.

Jack's breathing hitched. His pupils shrunk until there was only a small dot left. He could feel his heart throbbing in his chest and the sound flooded his eardrums. It was the only thing that he was aware of until something hit the side of his head and knocked him to the ground.

When he opened his eyes, everything was a blur and he couldn't move. Through mass spirals of gold he could see faint silhouettes; three tall figures huddled around a dwarf-like shadow, all yelling or gesturing to each other. He blinked away drowsiness until he gave up and calming darkness enveloped him.

 **(Yes he's been knocked out again. I'm sorry, i'll try not to make it happen much anymore.)**

Light. Bright lights. They danced across his vision and messed with his mind. He groaned a couple of times before he realized it was all one. Then it was color. Patterns. A ceiling. When Jack came to his senses he became aware of his surroundings. The wall and floor patterns were festive, red and green, complete with matching rugs. This was clearly the north pole, the workshop particularly. He was lying on a simple white bed, nothing alarming, until Jack notice his staff was missing. He began to panic. He tried to sit up, only to realize that his wrists were strapped down to the bed, immobilizing him. Thankfully his ankles weren't restrained either, but someone had stitched the cut on his foot, which set him on red alert. He struggled, eyes landing on a figure who had just cleared his throat. North was standing there, arms folded, with Sandy floating mid-air next to him, eyes half open and barely awake. Jack stopped struggling and looked back at North, who glared at him almost evilly. Jack looked away in response and stared down at the bonds.

"What did you do to me?" He asked quietly, glancing back.

"What I had to." North answered firmly. Jack winced at his tone.

"North," A voice shot back at him. Jack took his eyes off North and over to Tooth, who had just come through the door on the far side of the room. She floated over to him and began cutting away at the straps.

"He doesn't need these. You know that." She said as she went to the other side of the bed, glaring at the two. North huffed in response.

When the second strap was finally undone, Jack sat up. He looked Tooth in the eyes, begging through them for forgiveness. "Tooth, I- I didn't-"

He was stopped when Tooth wrapped her arms around him in an embrace. Jack sat there, shocked. He didn't know how to react. Wasn't she mad at him?

"Shh." She whispered. "Relax. You'll be okay."

"But the blizzard-"

"Calm down." She interrupted. "It's fine. I know you didn't mean to hurt me. "

"But the ice- it-"

"And we saw the blood."

"What? Oh, no…"

"Hey, hey." She silenced him again, pulling away but still grasping his shoulders. "We can sort this. None of this is your fault. We're not mad."

"THE HELL WE AREN'T! AFTER WHAT HE SAID, BY MANNY, TOOTH! YOU THINK WE'D BE MAD AFTER THIS?!"

When bunny burst through the doorway, Jack flinched. Tooth pulled him further into her arms as a defensive gesture. "It wasn't him. Believe me."

Sandy had awoken by then and floated towards Tooth and Jack in agreement.

"Wait…" Jack said, "What I said? Oh…" He remembered when he'd confessed back in the sleigh. "I didn't mean… I was just scared."

"No, Jack, it wasn't that." Tooth explained. "We'd already forgiven you mentally the moment you jumped out of that sleigh. What happened afterwards was not your doing."

"Afterwards?"

"Don't act like you don't know, you little-"

A slap sounded throughout the room, and everyone's eyes widened. Sandy walked away from the astonished bunny, dusting his hands off. Jack broke eye contact, confused.

' _What the heck… Sandy?'_

Tooth shook her head and continued. "Soon after Sandy knocked you out, the dreamsand blew away. We thought it had something to do with the sand in your blood, but…" She flinched as if remembering an unpleasant experience. "It was so _weird_. It's like, you weren't even dreaming, you talked with so much expression and meaning that we even considered you were awake, if it wasn't for your eyelids being closed we would have been convinced. When you stopped, North almost swore he would never let you speak again."

' _Wait, so, I was sleep talking? I didn't even remember dreaming… I don't even remember Pit- him. Oh boy, what did I- it must have been bad… if it was the thing that made North and Bunny so timid?'_

"What did I say?" He simply asked, trying to hide his worry.

"Yes, Tooth. Tell _Jackson_ what he said." North sneered. Jack cringed at his full name.

Tooth released Jack and looked into his eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but sighed sadly and looked away. "I can't tell you here." She said. "Come with me. I'll take you back to my palace. The trip to asia takes a while from here, but flying will get us there reasonably fast. Unless-"

"You can forget asking me for a globe." North delayed her efforts.

Tooth nodded without looking. "Come on. I know where your staff is. Sandy, you want to come?" She looked over at him, as he smiled shook his head no. She gestured Jack to follow her out the door, when someone muttered " _coward"_ under their breath. Tooth gasped slightly, but after a pause she held her head higher, changing her facial expression to a strong one. "Come on," She ordered without looking back. Jack took one look behind him fearfully before obeying, worried that one of the guardians would charge forward and strangle him.

' _I need to man up. Actually, screw it. I can't grow up. I just need to be strong.'_

After coaxing the Yeti's to unlock Jack's staff, (they gladly obeyed, not knowing about Jack's 'confession' yet) and opening the door did Tooth talk to Jack again.

"Do you think you can still fly?" She asked him.

He nodded, grasping his staff tightly and dreading what was coming.

 **So, yeah. Long chapter, 'cause I know you deserve it, but I can't tell if it sucks. I'm still just a kid. Like Jack. Always a kid. Huh…**

 **I didn't originally plan the emotional change in the guardian's behavior, but it came to me and I thought it'd be cool to create some more tension, because, face it, there's not much plot… yet.**

 **Also, about asia… according to dreamworks wiki's Toothiana's palace was set in southeast asia, but i'm not sure where. I think I read somewhere else that it was in Korea in particular, but i'm not so sure.**

 **Anyways, that's the setting for the next chapter! Be prepared, it could be sad.**

 **Please share, favourite or follow this story, It really helps and I'd really like this story to be a bit more popular. *call me selfish***

 **Thanks.**


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter eight**

The trip to the hills of southern asia did take less than what Jack had expected, as Tooth had said, but it was still long enough to make Jack tense up. He eyed fearfully at every shadow they passed, half expecting to see Pitch or one of his fearlings to jump out of nowhere. He let out a breath of relief when swarms of familiar psychedelic fairies came into view. Tooth stopped at the foot of her glittering palace to continue by foot, and Jack did the same, pausing occasionally to greet the small fairies.

"Jack, in here. Quick." Tooth said after a few minutes, pushing the door of a private room; a setting out of place compared to the open spaces of the castle.

"Um… what's with the cramped room?" Jack questioned. He did admit, he wasn't a fan of small spaces, and matched with the dim lighting and his impatience, it was extremely unnerving.

Tooth turned sharply after closing the door. Jack flinched at first, wondering if her anger had eventually come out, but was proved wrong when he saw tears brimming n her violet eyes.

"Tooth? Are you okay?"

She quickly disabled Jack from speaking any further as she pressed a hand gently against his mouth and gesturing him to be quiet with the other.

"Listen, if any of my fairies hear what i'm about to show you, it will be far worse than having Santa Claus and Aster turning their trust on you, I swear it on my afterlife. Understand?" Jack quickly nodded, eyes widening further at hearing her use the full names of the guardian spirits.

Tooth released Jack from his silent state as she raced to a corner of the room, opening a multicolored chest that Jack hadn't noticed before. She returned with a sort of furnished wood tape recorder, complete with bright colors and the symbol of each Guardian, excepting Jack, on the front. The device had a speaker and buttons, but no recorder or microphone. Just a small knob handle on the side.

"What is that?" Jack whispered.

"It's an invention that I constructed with the Guardian's help long ago. I started it alone but couldn't do it all by myself, so North did the main system and Sandy added extra magic to help."

"And Bunny?"

"He had the pleasure of doing the decorating." She smiled.

"So, what's it for exactly?"

"It's been a very long time since this has been used. I put it away i here because it's exposed too much information before. It's very dangerous in many ways, but in this case we need it. It's a speaker for amplifying memories out loud.

"Woah, really? I had no idea if that was possible. How do you work it?"

"Well, since it's a memory speaker…" She tugged off a pint-sized triangular knife that was attached to the side of the player, "One has to take a genetic sample from the cavity, whilst thinking with full concentration of the memory they desire to hear, like a tooth in a box-" And with that Tooth opened her mouth and pointed the knife past the interior of the bottom lip, suddenly slitting the gum quickly and violently.

"WOAH! Tooth, whattheheckdidyoujust….!" Jack started blabbing before Tooth shushed him.

"Like a tooth, blood from the mouth will work for smaller memories too." She pulled on the knob on the device, revealing a small wooden drawer. She let the blood drip once off the knife into the box and closed it.

"Now, Jack, are you prepared for what you're about to listen to?" She asked, her voice adding to the tension already wafting through the small room.

"Now that I think of it, i'm not too sure." Jack said. "I don't know if it'll make things any better. What if I said something that is true to me on the inside. Or used to be, anyway?" It was when Tooth's eyes widened that Jack realised that he had admitted all that through speech, right then.

"Oh, um… Tooth, I didn't mean- It was… gah, damn it." He shook his head. "I need to confess. There was… a lot of things I really didn't have hope for at all those three centuries. Things that I feared, and… you know I was afraid that no kids would ever believe in me, so… I got rid of that, but some things just get left behind."

It was true. After Jamie and the other children in his area began to believe in him, he had long since left the fear that he would never exist to people. But then again, Pitch once said that you can't kill fear, and he was right. Pitch Black was the reason Jack had grown a new pleora of fears over the past day or so, and one was the Guardians finding out about Jack's disbelief in the past.

Thankfully that could be off Jack's list in a little bit. Now, if he could just get this stupid damned tape recording over and done with…

"Jack, it's okay. Calm yourself. Whether this will make things better or not, I have no idea. But panicking isn't going to make anything better."

Jack looked up with wide eyes, realising that he had been breathing harshly, close to hyperventilation during his thoughts.

"O-okay." He whispered. "Play it. I'm ready."

Tooth grinned briefly before she pressed the green play button worriedly. Jack listened in pure shock at what emitted for the next few minutes.

 _Tooth spoke first, "Jack! Sandy, why did you have to do it so hard. Oh well, at least we can get him back easily. He'll be safe back at the pole."_

" _Safe from who, himself? Tooth, he almost committed freaking_ _ **suicide.**_ _What if he does it again?" An australian speaker asked._

 _North spoke back, "Bunny, do not blame the winter spirit. He is only under the influence of Pitch."_

" _It's no influence." Jack gasped at what he heard. That was his own voice!_

" _Pitch has made me come to realise that. You're talking about him like he is evil. Yeah, that's what he is, but he's a saviour too."_

" _Jack?" Tooth spoke again. "What- oh my goodness? The dream sand… It's gone- Oh my gosh!"_

" _What?" The two speakable guardians asked in usion._

" _Look! There's black sand in his blood! It's making him sleep-talk! Sandy, help over here!"_

" _Stop talking about me like i'm not here." A swat was heard. Undoubtedly him hitting a hand away. "Oh, you think it's the nightmares talking? No. This is me. You know how some adults speak their thoughts out loud under the influence of alcohol? That can be good. In fact, my case is perfect. Because, I've never had the courage over the past miserable to tell you what i'm about to say. Because I was scared. I was a wimp. But that sand? That did a good deed. It took away that fear, for once. For the first time, I can speak honestly. I can free myself of the awful hell hole of a life with you through words."_

" _But, Jack…" Tooth whimpered in assurance, "We thought you were happy. Don't you remember? You have believers now. Seven gorgeous children, and more to come, eventually. Aren't you grateful for that?"_

" _No." He snapped back, as the sound of shifting snow symbolised that he was moving. "I'm not, because that isn't enough. Seven scrawny little kids? Are you joking me? I'm practically on the bridge of existence because of you. North, you said once that according to the laws of a Guardian, one's strength is measured by the amount of believers. I could be invincible. Unstoppable. Fun could be unable to kill off. But, no. My immortality is scarce because I only have seven individuals looking out for me._ _ **My life is on the line, and I can change it.**_ "

" _How, Frosty?" Bunny snarled hoarsely. "You've been going at this for ages since this whole blizzard started. What is wrong with your life that we've given you? How can you change it?"_

" _You have a point. Sure, I am the guardian of fun now, and plenty of children have the pleasure of my gift, but they can't get enough. You know why? Their parents are so strict on 'good behaviour' and 'working hard to achieve their dreams'." Jack imagined himself making quotation marks with his hands. "Well, what if their dream is to have fun all the time? Yeah, I'm saying that to you, Sandy. Why can't they have that while working for themselves? Oh, right. THERE'S NO MISCHIEF IN IT."_

 _The Guardians gasped._

" _Yeah, you heard me. Maybe Man in Moon chose me for the darker side, not to help you. Maybe you should have been defeated, for the sake of having fun." Jack waited, anticipated for the third sentence, "_ _ **Maybe, I should have joined Pitch. Then they'd be more fun, and more believers."**_

 _There was silence. Deathly silence._

" _I would've never found my purpose on my own, but maybe if i'd just gone to someone else for advice. Maybe if I decided not to give all my trust into a- a cossack who make toys in his freetime. Two hybrid freaks who decorate eggs or collect human bones. A dwarf who- dare I say it, is made out of sand?_

" _You were never any help to me. You've always just used me. Isn't there a marvel villain like that somewhere?"_

 _The crinkle of frost was enough for Jack to tell that he was letting out his emotions physically now._

" _You've never cared for me. I'M JUST ANOTHER LIGHT ON THE GLOBE TO YOU! I'M JUST A SINGLE FLAKE IN THE SNOWGLOBE! MAN IN MOON CAN'T EVEN BE BOTHERED SPEAKING TO ME BECAUSE YOU SEEM MORE_ _ **IMPORTANT.**_ _I HATE-"_

 _A series of cries broke out, starting with Bunny._

" _I got him on the ground! North, grab him, now!"_

" _Don't hurt him!"_

" _Let go of me! Leave me alone!"_

 _Jack's cries were cut off my someone clapping a hand over his mouth. A few muffled cries of anger and pain escaped him before Tooth spoke._

" _NORTH STOP! Give him to me!" She yelled in anger._

" _Tooth, are you crazy?" His voice boomed. "Did you not hear him? He disgraced the Guardian name! He's-"_

" _It's not him! Now stop! You're making it worse! Give him to me, i'll stop the struggling."_

 _North huffed in disagreement as Jack began audibly yelling again._

" _You're mongrels! The whole lot of you! You'll never live up to your values!"_

" _Sandy!" Tooth yelled as the blizzard grew stronger. A swoosh of a magical sound and Jack's yelling immediately ceased._

" _Okay, I don't know what the cavity that was, but we're going to find out what's wrong with him once he wakes up,_ Safe."

" _If I don't kill the little psycho first."_

" _Bunny!" Tooth scolded. "Stop, I beseech you. Jack would never say that. You remember his confession of '68. You know him now. Give him time, I'm begging you."_

 _Angry Mutters were heard, but he seemed calmer._

" _Back to sleigh. The little imbecile can pay later." North growled._

 _With a static closing, the memory ended._

Jack stared at the box with disbelief for a few seconds before he fell back on the floor, unmoving.

"Jack!" Tooth gasped as she dropped the box and landed at his side, ignoring the discarded object.

"Tooth.. I-I'm." Jack stuttered as Tooth pulled him up and into her arms. "I'm so sorry."

"Jack. Jack, it's- it's okay. I'm not mad, Sandy's not mad, you're fine. We're two against three. Nobody's gonna hurt you."

"But bunny, he said that he'll-"

"Kill you. I know, but he won't. I'll never let him even touch a hair on you until he understands. Okay?" She said, stroking him affectionately.

"Yeah, except, this doesn't make it any better. Pitch was right. You can't kill fear. And now i'm scared. Scared of my own family. How do I-"

"Sweetie, there's nothing to be afraid of." Tooth pushed away and lifted his head in her hand. The smile in her eyes seemed familiar to Jack. Somewhat… a memory, almost. Of a mother figure who always gave affection to him…

"Besides, they're soft when it comes to words. However, I was convinced it was never you. You would never say that."

"Some of it was true though." He blurted out, not able to hold it in anymore.

"Huh?" Tooth asked, surprised.

Jack took in a breath, knowing this would take a lot of explaining. "A lot if it was. Well, in the past, anyway. It was out of fear; Seeing you do your jobs everyday and barely seeing any other spirits around, I thought, maybe none of you cared." He looked down for a moment, "Asking Manny what I was there for every day with no answer was like trying to tear my own skull apart. And, as sad as it sounds, sometimes I only asked to hear my own proper voice." Jack shuddered as he relived the unpleasant memories.

Tooth nodded in acknowledgement, sadness in her eyes. "You know," She began, smiling just a little bit. "I really, really hate Pitch."

Jack's head shot up. He'd almost totally forgotten that it was his doing that caused all this. Bringing up the awful past and turning it against his family? No one deserved that.

"Tooth, we have to find him. What if he starts doing to other people? I don't know who they could be but… we just have to stop him."

"Agreed. Where do we start?"

" _By stopping."_ A chilling voice out of nowhere whispered. Jack and Tooth went rigid. They both knew that voice far too well.

Jack clutched his staff as they both got to their feet, backs facing each-other in a fighting stance.

"Pitch!" Toothiana screamed into the darkness. "Come out and fight like a man, you- you…"

"Go ahead, insult me, Tooth fairy." Pitch said. "No word can hurt me as much as they've hurt little _frost_ here."

Before Jack could process what was happening a hand shot out of the darkness and grabbed Jack by the lower jaw, forcing him to took into the gloomy amber eyes of the nightmare king. His eyes widened in fear and he jerked away forcibly.

"What do you want now?" He said at finding his courage once again.

"Funny question that. I hadn't planned this far in stalking you. I just made my presence clear because I spotted something that I seem to have taken interest in."

Jack stiffened. Pitch had been watching them? Even in places where shadows lacked, he must have known most of what happened. Oh no…

"What have you taken interest in?" Tooth spoke, "If you're thinking about Jack, you'll never even get to-"

"Calm yourself, bird. It is only a mere object." Pitch's gaze travelled down to the memory player left on it's side nearby and began making his way to it.

"No!" Jack dove for the recorder, but was sideswept by a nightmare and the device was snatched out of his grasp. "Pitch! Give it back, it's not yours to take!"

"Neither is your trust in the Guardians, but I think we all know where that's gotten to." Pitch leered at Jack, a maniacal grin upon his face.

Jack stood back, frightened by the nightmare king's sudden quotation.

A grunt of fury was heard as Tooth rammed into Pitch, desperately trying to wring the memory box out of his hands. Pitch flung her aside where she crashed into Jack.

Tooth scrambled off, attempting again to attack, when she was trampled on by a large nightmare and dragged roughly across the ground.

Jack looked fearfully from Tooth to Pitch, who was turning the box over in his hands, examining it carefully, then to the locked door, where screeches of mini fairies could be hard, obviously having heard the sudden noise.

"Yes, I think I will take this after all. Also, this would be a good moment to thicken the plot up a little bit more than it already is, eh?"

And with that, the nightmares surrounding the two victims spiralled around their king, creating a hurricane of black sand around him. Tooth and Jack screamed for each-other in the spinning air, the force coming in, limiting breathing and bringing pressure down on everything.

The room exploded.

When Jack found consciousness, he found a whole swarm of mini fairies spinning around the room, squeaking little orders to each-other. The whole egg-shaped room was completely destroyed in a mass of shattered gold and crystal. The box that once contained the memory holder was in shambles, mixing with the rest of the debris. His whole body was in agony, his staff was on the other side of the room, and worst of all, Tooth was gone.

"TOOTH!"

 **Urgh, Yeah. Sorry for the cliffhanger, I couldn't help myself.**

 **I'm gonna be honest, I pulled that whole memory speaker thing out of nowhere. Out of the shadows, maybe?**

 **Um… Thanks Pitch?**

 **Anyways, I'm thinking of a new one-shot sequel to my Big Hero 6 story. I've been planning to do an apology fic (because it was completely OOC and overall sucked) plus there were some things for the finale chapter that were left unincluded.**

 **So, you guys let me know what you think.**

 **Goodbye, poroporoaki.**


	10. AUTHORS NOTE 2

**Holy Christmas nuts.**

 **How long has it been?**

 **If I could give apologies to infinity I would give everyone a cupcake right now. But I can't, so...**

 **Sorry?**

 **I'm really stuck in a jam right now. I really didn't think this story through. I'll try harder, but I can only say that chapters will only be graduately updated for now on.**

 **If this upsets you, I apologise in advance.**

 **Jeez, I need to stop writing like a nerdy secretary and move on.**

 **Anyways, as much as I love ROTG, I think Big Hero 6 is the 'bae' for me at the moment.**

 **Like, seriously. I have an identical SFIT poster up on my wall right now.**

 **So i'll be working on more oneshots and maybe multi-chapter fics on that while trying to update this one. I'll write the next one in a week or two so you guys have something to make up for it.**

 **But hey, keep an eye on my profile page, there'll probably be more stories up there soon.**

 **Knifehand, Backick, Gummy Bears.**

 **-Hybrid**


	11. Chapter 9

**I know, far later than promised. That's damn writer's block for you.**

 **I'm running out of apologies.**

 **Chapter nine**

Jack ignored the pain that shot like bullets over his spine and ran to his staff. It elevated him into the air, freeing him from the sharp debris that drew a million fairies to its attention. He landed outside where a swarm of fairies magnetized to him.

"Hey, hey calm down, no-one's been hurt... Yet," He tried to assure them, knowing that he could barely keep his own heart at a steady rate.

"Did you see them? Tell me that you've seen them!" Jack panicked. The fairies shook their heads with sadness in their eyes.

Jack had to use all his mental strength to keep from hyperventilating. "O-okay, um..."

Then, the forbidden happened.

A tear slid down Jack's face.

He dropped to the ground, his head in his hands.

"Oh Manny, what have I done?" He murmured, shaky breaths entering and escaping his body."

He stayed like that for a while, numbed of the feeling of Tooth's fairies comforting him and struggling to get him back on his feet, even knowing that it was impossible.

Then, Jack heard it. It was faint at first, like an illusion, but then it got louder.

' _She's not hurt, it's fine. I just needed a bit of fun.'_

"... Pitch?"

' _I don't have her with me. I just flung her away for a bit. It may take a while for Jack to find her, but you know, the longer the merrier."_ The sentence was followed by a spooky chuckle.

' _She's not far, but I assume it's far enough to prepare yourselves, right?"_ A neigh was then heard, which without much thought was concluded to as the sound of a nightmare. Then the wind-like sounds ended.

"She's not far! I can find her!" Jack rocketed into the air, much to the fairies fright, even as they called out to him, urging him to come back, telling him it was a trap.

Jack didn't care. All he cared about was Tooth's safety

* * *

He landed a little away from the palace, searching for any signs of where Tooth could've gone. Suddenly a gust of cold air hit him, and he could hear two all-too-familiar voices behind him.

"Jack!"

' _Oh no,'_ He thought. ' _Not them. Anyone but them.'_

"Jack!" The Australian voice repeated. "We heard what happened. I'm… just… we're sorry."

Jack felt a sudden new feeling replace fear. Whatever it was, it was hot and aimed itself right at the people behind him.

Rage.

Jack turned to them. "Just because another one of you has gone missing now? That's really cheap. Thanks a lot," He replied coldly. He attempted to fly away when a hand grabbed his hoodie from behind, turning him around.

 **("When are you gonna start doing something with that big brain of yours?" Nah, I'm kidding XD. Continue.)**

North looked down at him with sympathetic eyes. "Jack, please. Forgive us. We know now. All those things you said, were the exact opposite of what you would really say, especially if you were that desperate. Don't let that separate us. We're all Guardians here."

Nonetheless, the scowl remained on Jack's face. "I'm going to find Tooth," He stated, looking away. With North, Bunny and Sandy looking on in disbelief, Jack flew off into the distance.


	12. ON HOLD (for now)

You all probably expected this, and yes, I am officially putting this story on hold.

I just came to a point where I had a boatload of ideas and then a second later, none. I know this'll be hard for all you guys who love the story. It's just not popular or good enough to keep going.

Besides, why have a ROTG on your list when your greatest obsession is Big Hero 6? I freaking got two pop figures, two shirts and a poster for by b-day last week!

I'm really sorry. If I think of something I'll update; the story is NOT done. But if you want to adopt or adapt on the story yourself feel free to. I don't think you really need my permission.

Again, i'm sorry for all the heartbreak I may have caused.

Coming soon: More Fanfiction for Big Hero 6 ad possibly Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders.

Hybrid out.


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